a chain reaction

by David LaBounty

management, my
management any

management, said
the gas prices are
a bitch and business
is soft and we’ve
got to tighten our
belts so chain-wide
the cuts are coming,

and they gave me a sickle

and told me to swing
it through my store
and start hacking
away and I certainly wouldn’t
swing it at myself and
I knew I would cut
the weakest and
the lowest paid guys,
guys that
change and bust
the tires, guys with
dirty hands and
tobacco stained teeth
who go broke buying
McDonald’s every
day for lunch,
guys who wouldn’t
put up much of a
fuss about being
let go because the
poor never fight
back, it’s as if
they expect to
lose their eight
dollar an hour job
because they’ve lost
so many eight dollar
an hour jobs before and

that’s how it goes

and management knew
where the cuts
would be made
and indeed,
the weakest
were cut and hours
were cut and the
rest of us had to
pick up the slack and

that’s what management
has always done,
that’s what
society and
mother nature and
the indifferent
universe has
always done

making sure

the weak are fired
and sometimes

eaten.